Three Azerbaijani male judokas reach final of IBSA Baku Judo Gran Prix
Azerbaijan’s Vugar Shirinli (-60kg), Bayram Mustafayev (-66kg) and Huseyn Rahimli (81kg) are through the finals of IBSA Judo Grand Prix in Baku.
Shirinli beat Uzbek world number one and Rio 2016 Paralympic champion Sherzod Namozov in the quarter final and Recep Ciftci from Turkey in the semi final. In the final he faces Romanian Florin Alexandru Bologa.
World Champion Bayram Mustafayev beat Giorgi Gamjasvili from Georgia in the semi final. He is confident of overcoming another Georgian Giorgi Kaldani in the final.
Another Azerbaijani Namig Abbasli will fight for the bronze medal against Gamjasvili. The 21-year-old is focused on beating Gamjasvili to claim his first international medal.
World Number one Huseyn Rahimli must win over Uzbek judoka Davurkhon Karamatov to take the gold medal. Rahimli began his campaign by beating South African Jacque Jobart and World Championship bronze medallist Nathan Petit from France.
In the semi-final Rahimli conquered Ukraine’s Dmytro Solovey.
Paralympic champion Ramil Gasimov is due to face German judoka Nikolai Kornhass in the fight for bronze. It’s not the first time the two have fought. Gasimov beat the German judoka on his way to winning the Rio 2016 Paralympic gold medal.